Finding two witnesses for your Cornwall elopement
You need two witnesses to get married in England and Wales. If you are eloping to Cornwall just the two of you, here is how to find them without the last-minute scramble.
Every couple planning an elopement down here reaches the same question sooner or later. It is just the two of us — so who signs the register?
In England and Wales the law is straightforward. Alongside the registrar or celebrant you need two witnesses present for the ceremony, old enough to understand what they are witnessing, and able to sign their names afterwards. No two witnesses, no marriage.
When I am photographing an elopement I am usually happy to be one of them. That still leaves you one short, and couples end up asking the registry office if anyone is free, or quietly collaring a dog walker on the coast path ten minutes before the vows. It works, but it is a strange bit of admin to be sorting out on the morning of your wedding.
So I built a directory to take care of it.
The Cornwall witness directory
It lives on this site at the witness directory and it is completely free to use. It is a list of friendly local people across Cornwall who are happy to stand in as a witness for couples eloping here.
You can browse everyone who is listed, see where they are based, and filter by what you need — people who can do short notice, people who come as a pair so both signatures are sorted in one go, people happy on a cliff path, people with a car, people who do not mind an early start.
When you find someone, you send a request straight through the page. I am not in the middle of it, there is no booking fee, and I take no commission. You agree a time with them, and they are paid directly on the day — most people ask a modest thank-you fee for about twenty minutes of their morning.
What this looks like on the day
A Cornish elopement is usually a short ceremony, a walk, and a long lunch. Your witnesses arrive a few minutes before, stand with you while you say your vows, sign the schedule, and are often invited to stay for a photograph and a glass of something before heading off. Plenty of couples have ended up chatting to theirs for an hour afterwards.
If you are still deciding how the day itself might look, have a read of my elopement photography page, or the Cornwall wedding photography page if you are planning something a little bigger.
If you live in Cornwall, put your name down
The directory only works if there are people on it, and it is genuinely lovely to be part of. You turn up somewhere beautiful, watch two people get married, sign your name, and you are paid for your time.
A few things worth knowing:
It takes about twenty minutes. Couples settle the fee with you directly. If you run a business or a creative project you can add a link to it on your profile, which puts it in front of couples planning weddings down here. And every witness gets a personal invite link — if five friends join through yours, you have earned a half-hour portrait session with me at my studio in Penzance.
You can look through the list, ask someone to witness, or add your own name.
Planning your own elopement?
You’ll need two witnesses.
Every wedding in England and Wales needs two people to witness the vows and sign the register. If it’s just the two of you in Cornwall, there’s a free directory of friendly locals happy to stand in.
Find a Cornish witnessLive in Cornwall? Join the directory
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